1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a system and method for determining price values for vehicles. In particular, the present invention is directed to such system and method in which price values for a vehicle are provided based on the vehicle history attributes.
2. Description of Related Art
The vehicle industry is perhaps one of the largest industries in many industrialized regions of the world. As a result, the market for used vehicles, and especially automobiles, has evolved into a substantial market, especially in North America, and in particular, the United States and Canada.
Those parties involved in the trading of used vehicles recognize the value of information relating to the used vehicle's history in making a purchasing decision including determining a value of the particular vehicle. Consequently, services have been created that function primarily to provide vehicle history information to various parties in the used vehicle market, including dealers and individual consumers. For example, Carfax, Inc., the assignee of the present invention, provides a variety of vehicle history information to both buyers and sellers of vehicles. Carfax offers a web site at www.carfax.com, permitting a potential buyer or seller of a vehicle to purchase a vehicle history report containing an extensive collection of information on a particular vehicle. Carfax also offers a subscription service for vehicle history reports. Additionally, dealers and other entities post links to vehicle history reports on various web sites, such as auto sales sites. The vehicle history report may include such vehicle history information as model year, odometer readings, as well as vehicle history events such as accident information, the existence of salvage and/or flood titles, and maintenance records.
Until now, commercial services which offer valuations of used motor vehicles have been limited to providing generic valuations, i.e. a base price, based primarily on the make, model and year of the vehicle. With the advent of online databases, the commercial online valuation services have been able to factor in various vehicle information relating to the present state of the specific vehicle, such as the color or odometer reading of the specific vehicle, or the zip code in which the vehicle is being sold, to allow adjustment to the generic base price.
For example, Edmunds' ® TMV Used Vehicle Appraiser (www.edmunds.com) requests the mileage, color, zip code, specific standard/optional equipment, and vehicle condition from the user of its databases to make adjustments to the base price for the particular make, model and year of vehicle. These adjustments to the base price for Trade-In, Private Party, and Dealer Retail transactions are displayed on the pricing report to reach a final adjusted price.
Kelley Blue Book® (www.kbb.com) has a similar process which permits an owner to assess the vehicle's condition as poor, fair, good, or excellent, or permits the consumer to answer specific questions to assess the condition of the vehicle. Likewise, NADA Guides™ (www.nadaguides.com) also has a similar process which allows the consumer to input a zip code and mileage before submitting a request for a pricing report. The pricing report displays a price for Low Retail, Average Retail, and High Retail. Average Retail price is noted for representing the price for a vehicle having a clean vehicle history record. The report also displays a mileage adjustment for the mileage submitted by the consumer.
Other online services, such as Consumer Guide™ (www.consumerguide.com) that is powered by IntelliChoice®, provide information to dealers regarding potential customers in the market for a vehicle. After requesting the make, model, year, and standard/optional equipment, the valuation service requests the consumer to input fairly specific vehicle information regarding body damage, hail damage, amounts spent on unibody/frame and collision repairs, as well as data on emissions inspections, odometer reading, registration, and clean title/branded title(s). Consumer Guide™ also requests the consumer to answer questions about commercial use, purchase/sale at an auction, any Lemon Law claim, and any alterations made to the vehicle since it left the factory. Some of the requested information may be inputted manually by the consumer after reviewing a vehicle history report. Once these questions have been answered by the consumer, the online service provides such information to dealers who may be interested in taking the vehicle as a trade in for another vehicle from the dealer's inventory. Unlike the other online vehicle pricing services, however, the Consumer Guide™ pricing report does not display specific adjustments by dollar amount or display the value of the vehicle.
Importantly, the available databases and online valuation services described above do not disclose how their pricing adjustments are derived. For example, the above discussed online valuation services generally do not disclose how price values of a vehicle are determined for any given vehicle specific information. In this regard, some of the online valuation services specifically disclaim the accuracy of the valuation by stating that the vehicle valuation provided by the online valuation service is an opinion only.
Moreover, the presently available databases and online valuation services do not provide substantially automated prices or price adjustments for a used vehicle based on specific vehicle history information that relates only to the vehicle being valued. Instead, if such specific vehicle history information is used at all, the online valuation services rely upon the consumer to acquire and provide such information to the online valuation service. In particular, the above described attempts by the commercial vehicle valuation services to provide vehicle valuation services require interactively obtaining vehicle-specific data that is personally known to, or perceived by, the consumer. No vehicle valuation service substantially automatically obtains the breadth of information like the vehicle history data provided in the CARFAX® database. For example, as previously described, the Consumer Guide™ service requires the consumer to manually enter the vehicle history information that is requested.
Therefore, there exists an unfulfilled need for a system and method for determining vehicle prices or price adjustments. In addition, there also exists an unfulfilled need for such a system and method in which vehicle prices and price adjustments are provided based on vehicle history events. Furthermore, there exists an unfulfilled need for a system and method in which such vehicle prices and price adjustments are substantially automatically provided to the user without requiring the consumer to provide vehicle information.